Self-closing safety pin



July 11, 1950 J. A. BENDITT SELF-CLOSING SAFETY PIN Filed June 24, 1949 Inventor @572 J1. B e 72 ii if A Horn ey wardly and back upon itself as seen at 2| and is provided adjacent the terminal thereof with an upwardly or inwardly bowed portion, designated generally 22, the extension or outer end of which is flattened and thereby widened as seen at 23'. Said flattened or widened terminal portion 23 is split longitudinally and centrally as seen at 24 to provide a fork the two corresponding tines of which extend generally downwardly and are providedgwithupwardly or inwardly curved terminal portions '25. The pin or piercing member l8 and the guard portion are bowed outwardly relatively to one another, as best seen in Figure 1. I A

The resiliency of the parts 9 to l2, constituting the actuating section A cause the leg portions 12 thereof to be spring biased away from one another and accordingly cause the extensions of said leg portions l2, constituting the pin or piercing member 18 and. the guard 20 to be spring biased toward oneianother. Thezpiercmg point [9 .is so disposed that under the normal biasing action of the .actuatingsection A, said point l9 will enter the slot 24 of the fork 23 which thus forms a guide for said point and asseen in Figure 2, when the pin orpiercing member is in engagement with the inner, tapered. portion of the slot 2-; the tip of the point l9 will be disposed adjacent the other, inner, half 28 of the inwardly bowed guard portion'22 and which constitutes a shield for said point 19. With'the pin or clasp'section 13 thus disposed in its normal, closed position as seen in Figures 1 and 2, the upward or inward turned terminals of the tines of the fork" 23 will. be disposed substantially parallel to the adjacent portion .of the pin or piercing-member (8 so as not to; providea protruding obstruction. From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that when the safety'pin 6 is to be applied to pieces of fabric, for example, not shown, the user places his or her index finger against the knurled surface 13 of the. lower leg portion I2 and the thumb against the knurled portion l3;of the upper.leg portion i2 and by -exering a squeezing pressure displaces said leg portions 12 toward one another thereby causing the convolutions M to turn relatively to the pivot 8 in opposite-directions for swinging the pin or piercing member l8 downwardly and the guard member 20 upwardly or in directions away from one another, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure l for exposing the point It of the pin or piercing member 18 and while thus *holding the leg portions J2 under pressure and so that the parts [Band 12 of the actuating section A will be ii -substantially the positions as seen in dotted lines in Figure 1, the piercing member or pin I B, is passedthrough and then back through pieces or portions of fabric or other elements to be secured together and when the point [9 is, again exposed, pressure on the. leg portions i2 is; released thereby permittingthe members; l8 and 20 to be spring biased from their dotted line positions of Figure 1 back to their full line positions of Figure l, in which last mentioned position the pin 6 is closed. It will thus be r seen that the pin 6 is normally maintained in a closed position by the biasing action of the actuating section A sothat there is no danger of the pin becoming accidentally unfastened and opened and to insure that the pin will at all times be closed unless opened by a positive pressure, as previously described.

-. Variousmodifications and changes are contemplated andmay obviously be resorted to,.without departing from the spirit or scope of the 4 invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A self-closing safety pin comprising a single strand of resilient wire having an intermediate portion defining a spring coil, legs extending from the ends of said coil and from substantially diametrically opposite portions thereof in the same general direction, said legs being crossed and turnedback upon themselves ;.to;provide correspondingouter le portions extending back beyond said spring coil and each terminating in Y i a coil portion, said coil portions being normally spaced from one another and being displaceable into alignment with one another by pressure exerted on said outer leg portions and in directions toward one another, a pivot element extending through said coil portions and on which said coil portions are pivotally mounted, said spring coil and leg portions combining to form an actuating section of the safety pin one terminal of said strand extendingfrom one of said coil portions in a direction away ,from said actuating section and constituting apin or piercing member and having a pointedterminal, the other terminal of said strand extending from said other coilv portion in substantially diametrically opposite relationship to said piercing memher and ina direction away from the actuating section and constituting aguardvmember, said guard member having a portion-turned inwardly and back upon itself and terminating in an inwardly bowed portion constituting the terminal of said last mentioned stra n'd. end, the terminal part of said inwardly bowed portion being flattened and bifurcated to provide an outwardly opening guide slot disposed tonormally receive a portion of the pin or piercing member, said pin or piercing member and said guard member being spring biased toward one another by the resiliency of said actuating section for normally positioning said pin portion in engagement with the slot of the bifurcatedguard portionfor retaining the safetypin in a normalclosed position. 2 A self-closing saiety pinlasin claim 1, said pin or piercing member and said guard member combining to form the saiety pin or clasp section oiisaid safety pin. r

3. A self-closingsa fety; pin as in. claim -1, said pin or piercing member and said guard member being outwardly bowed relatively to one another and being displaceable indirections away from one another and to,an open position by a gripping pressure exerted on said outer leg portions of the actuatingys ection.v. j

4. A self-closing safety. pin as in claim 1, said pin or piercing member and said guard member being outwardly bowed relatively to one another and'being displaceablein directions away from oneanother and to an open position by a gripping pressure exerted on said outer leg portions of theactuati-ng section; said outerleg portions of theuactuating section :beingknurled on their outer sides to provide finger grips.

5. A- safety pin as in claim 1, and theinner part jot-the inwardly bOWGd terminal oigsaid guard member constituting a shield adjacent the inner s detof w i h the po nt o 't e pinor'pieroing member is disposed when the; pin; or clasp section isinits normal, closed position;

6. A self-closing safety pin formed froma single strand of wire including longitudinally spaced end portionsgone of said end portions constituting, the intermediate part-of said strand and forming an actuating section of the, safety F; pin, said other end constituting the terminals of said strand forming the pin or clasp section of the safety pin, aligned coil portions disposed. between said safety pin sections, a pivot element rotatably engaging said aligned coil portions. and retaining them against normal spring biasing movement away from one another, and said actuating section including outer portions adapted to be gripped and pressed toward one another for displacing the terminals of the strand, de- 10 another for opening the safety pin, said strand terminals being normally spring biased toward one another by the resiliency of said actuating section for normally retaining said terminals in engagement and the safety pin in a closed posi tion.

JOHN A. BENDITT.

No references cited. 

